Unvaccinated Kentucky student who sued over school ban winds up with chickenpox

Gary Dinges @gdinges

Wednesday

May 8, 2019 at 4:15 PMMay 8, 2019 at 4:15 PM

A Kentucky high-schooler who filed suit after he was banned from campus because he hadn't had a chickenpox vaccination has contracted the illness, according to published reports.

Jerome Kunkel, 18, first started showing signs of chickenpox last week, NBC News reported. He expects to be fully recovered next week, a family lawyer said.

Kunkel is a student at Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Assumption Academy, where a chickenpox outbreak was reported in March. State health officials at the time ordered all unvaccinated students to stay away from the school.

The teen hasn't been back on campus since March 15. He can return, the state said, once his chickenpox lesions have scabbed over.

Kunkel's lawyer said his client has no regrets about skipping the vaccine.

"These are deeply held religious beliefs, they're sincerely held beliefs," attorney Christopher Wiest told NBC News. "From their perspective, they always recognized they were running the risk of getting it, and they were OK with it."

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.